Work is an important part of life for most of us. We spend a lot of time there. Many of our relationship connections run through the workplace. The workplace and its role in our lives is changing. That's what this blog is about. That's why every week, in addition to my own posts here, I identify a few interesting posts for your weekend reading about the world where we work and live. This week I'm pointing you to articles and posts about top takeaways from the Winning Workplaces Conference and working together, but separately.

From Winning Workplaces: Top Takeaways from Our 2011 Leadership Conference with Inc. Magazine"This is a little late coming, but I wanted to supplement the takeaways I've shared on Twitter from our Leadership Conference last month with Inc. Magazine (see these five recent tweets) with a post here with even more on what I learned and got a refresher on when it comes to investing in your workplace for greater employee engagement, team building, and other profitable people practices."

Wally's Comment: There's lots of good stuff in this post. Mark Harbeke captures the key points in the four main presentations at the conference.

From the NY Times: Working Separately, Together"THE grass is always greener on the other side of the cubicle. Corporate types curse during long commutes and feel shackled to their desks when the weather outside is gorgeous. If only they could work from home and have a more flexible schedule. Freelancers who possess that very advantage, though, can suffer from bouts of loneliness and laziness. They may crave the camaraderie and structure that the office worker takes for granted."

Wally's Comment: I've worked in environments like this twice in my career. I didn't need the structure or the motivation, I do discipline pretty well. What I liked about the experience was the ideas that spark when you're around people with different expertise and interests.